This program brought you, in part by the Erika Lewis Endowment Fund.

-Coming up on Student Spotlight...

Becoming farmpreneurs.

The nonprofit Green Our Planet hosts its Giant Student Farmers Market, featuring more than 300 CCSD students.

Then...

Honoring National Native American Heritage Month.

Meet a talented 5th grader at Cambeiro Elementary School who holds a very special honor in her tribe.

Plus...

Connecting high schoolers with careers in public service.

We visit Veterans Tribute CTA for a special event.

And... Rock your school at Schorr Elementary School.

Those stories and so much more, Student Spotlight starts right now.

[swiping sound] Welcome to Student Spotlight.

I'm your host, Maria Silva, and I'm joining you from Richard C. Priest Elementary School in North Las Vegas, where they have a beautiful garden outside and, check this out, inside the classroom as well.

Now, here, students grow vegetables and herbs and learn science, healthy eating, and so much more.

But they aren't the only students with a garden in the Clark County School District.

Twice a year, students from all over the district, including this school right here, sell produce from their very own gardens at the Giant Student Farmers Market.

The event, by the way, is put on by the nonprofit Green Our Planet.

(Amberley Dorrell) We are participating in the Green Our Planet Farmers Market.

This is our third one, and we just keep getting more and more successful every time we come out.

(student) $4.

(Gala Esprada) Many schools come together to sell stuff they made and produce.

We're selling like glitter bottles.

We're growing pomegranates, lavender.

(Riley Caligone) And we grow the rosemary, and then we harvest it by cutting it off.

-We brought 10 students with us today.

They're all 5th graders from the different classes.

And what's amazing about our school is that we allow our 5th graders to choose their specials for a six-week group of time.

So they've chosen to be part of this program, and they've chosen to be working with Green Our Planet and building all their activities and all that kind of stuff.

-I'm learning about banking stuff, money, and earnings.

(Woody Worthington) So we're really tapping in and empowering those students to, you know, be that farmpreneur, right?

They've been learning FinLit, right, financial literacy, and they've been growing, and they're like, really excited.

(Nataly Mendoza) We're selling crafts and vegetables.

We have leeks, and we also have lettuce.

And we also have very sweet melons.

They're very good.

(Carolina Flores) It's a real-life experience for them.

A lot of them are amazing just interacting with the community members, and you can just tell they're loving it.

(Alyse Haywood) So we're selling basil.

We're selling carrots from our garden.

We picked them yesterday.

-You know at school, everything that we learn is paper, pencil and, you know, to put it out there in the real world, there's, you know, you can't learn more than from that.

-Yeah.

So it really empowers them to be those farmpreneurs and really get out here and connect with the public.

-We plant stuff, we take it out, and once we finally sell them, people actually want to buy them.

And that makes me happy.

(student) $4.

-I'm so impressed.

Nice job, everyone!

Now, more than 330 students from 33 schools took part in this Giant Farmers Market.

And together, listen to this, they raised nearly $10,000.

That money, the best part, stays with schools to help fund garden programs.

Well, November is National Native American Heritage Month, and here in Nevada, there are 28 federally recognized tribes.

Now, the mission of CCSD's Indian Education Opportunities Program is to provide quality educational and cultural programs and services to eligible American Indian and Alaska Native students.

We recently stopped by a moccasin workshop where we found out more about these important workshops and the services being offered.

(Richard Savage) We also have student success advocates today, just like the ones that I had and some of these students have that, you know, look like us, sound like us, are from the community and from the culture, so that way they're able to speak to you one-on-one and understand your unique needs.

-Well, I can tell you that it was an incredible honor to be at that workshop.

For more information on CCSD's Indian Education Opportunities Program, please head to engage.ccsd.net.

Now to Cambeiro Elementary School where they are holding a first-ever assembly in honor of Native American Heritage Month, and one of the school's talented students will be taking center stage.

(GreyFalcon) [singing] -GreyFalcon Begaye is no doubt proud of her heritage... -So I represent the Navajo and the Paiute tribe.

- ...proud of her beautiful name... -I was born on a rainy day, and then when the clouds got grey, my mom and my dad named me Grey.

And my dad wanted to name me GreyFalcon Begaye.

- ...and proud of her family.

-I represent my grandma, my sisters, my dad, and my auntie.

-GreyFalcon is also proud to hold a very important role within her tribe.

-As a Junior Princess, I get to represent the Las Vegas Paiute tribe.

-And as a representative of her tribe, she will take part in a special assembly at Arturo Cambeiro Elementary School.

And it was GreyFalcon who inspired Principal Brandi Pineda to hold this first-of-its-kind celebration during Native American History Month.

(Brandi Pineda) We found out that she dances and that she dances with some other, some other dancers.

And so we were like, well, let's celebrate her.

Let's show how she dances.

Let's show, you know, what her culture does.

Our school is also learning it during this month, all about the heritage.

And so in library, we have all the books out.

So it's just great to learn more about the culture and more about the heritage.

And so now having a student, I'm learning from GreyFalcon as well.

And to have all her 510 other peers learn from her and the teachers and the staff, it's awesome.

[singing] -Such a beautiful voice, GreyFalcon.

I'm so proud of you.

Well, now let's head to Nevada Learning Academy for our first "News Break."

-Hi, I'm Kristal, a student at Nevada Learning Academy at CCSD.

-Hi, I'm Jenell, and I'm in the 5th grade.

We are students here at Nevada Learning Academy, the CCSD's online school.

-And we are here with your first "News Break."

-86 schools were added to Superintendent's Honor Roll.

86!

The special honor recognizes academic performance and improvement.

Principals were invited to a special event to get a certificate.

Schools that earned five stars also got a banner!

Congratulations to all the school staff and students!

-The Las Vegas Grand Prix surprised teachers and staff at one school.

The big surprise happened at Gehring Academy of Science and Technology.

They gave out tickets to the big Formula 1 race happening in Vegas later this month.

Gehring Academy recently earned the National Blue Ribbon School award.

How cool!

-And a CCSD principal was named Nevada Principal of the Year.

Principal Cole has been the principal at Mojave High School since 2017.

The award comes from the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Principal Cole is now a finalist for the national award.

Impressive!

Later in the show, we'll tell you more about our school.

-But for now, let's send it back to Maria.

-Thank you so much, Kristal and Jenell.

Amazing job!

Well, the motto at Veterans Tribute Career and Technical Academy is "Preparing Everyday Heroes."

The school's mission is to help students get ready for a future in public service and beyond.

We recently stopped by campus for a special event that helped connect students to careers and the community.

♪♪♪ (Joshua Davis) Today's event is called P.R.I.D.E.

in Public Service.

There's over 80 representatives from 60 different local agencies, from law enforcement to emergency medical services to military branches.

♪♪♪ (Sara Franco) So basically, we're having a lot of agencies from all over Nevada and the valley.

They're coming here so that all the students can come and talk to us-- or we can talk to them.

You can just ask them questions about how they got there, like, their experiences with this, see if it's really what we want to do.

Also what it would be like for us to go work like that.

So we have people from the FBI, from CSI, EMTs, Navy, Army, all of that stuff.

(Cayle Peru) And the event itself is awesome.

It's crazy how many agencies have actually got to come out and just represent themselves and represent our school and represent the community.

It's a good way for students to interact with different agencies, find out what they're interested in, get a good variety of the different things that are offered here, different things that are offered for them in their futures.

Even if they have a plan, it still gives them a look at different opportunities that they have available.

-It's also just one of those things you can't measure.

This event, you know, you can't measure how many career opportunities or how this is going to impact them.

-So my career goal is to become a fixed-wings aviator in the United States Marine Corps.

And the way the school helped me prepare for that is by providing me with the proper resources.

All it really took was talking to the administration, talking to my instructors, just communicating and understanding that there are people out there to help me.

I've gotten in contact with the proper recruiters, with the people actually in the field flying for aviation.

-My plan is to be an EMT while I do maybe, like, med school or whatever I decide to do.

I love feeling like I can make a difference.

I've been so passionate and, like, interested in everything medical.

I just love it.

And the school is already teaching me all the background information I need for any job I might want to have in the future.

-I'm born and raised in Vegas.

I love this city more than anything, and to be at a school where students choose to come here because they want to give back to the community, to their own community and the community I love, no better job.

-What a wonderful event.

So proud of all of these students.

And to learn more about Veterans Tribute Career and Technical Academy, visit the school's website at vtcta.org.

And Veterans Tribute CTA is one of many magnet options in the Clark County School District.

The application period, by the way, for magnet programs, is open right now, and that means students and their families are currently touring campuses.

We went to West Career and Technical Academy, where student ambassadors were leading the tours.

♪♪♪ (Taylor Ortiz) Hi, welcome to H Building.

My name is Taylor, a senior in Digital Art and Design, and I'll taking you through what the program is like.

Let's head down here, and I'll show you our lab space.

Our primary role is to educate people about our school as well as help them learn information about our programs and our electives that we offer here at West Tech.

Here we have a variety of art classes, including drawing, painting, art, and we have two amazing teachers here on campus.

All of these masks are designed by art students, and they are done to show how 2D and 3D visuals can affect each other.

I'm Jonathan Carlson.

I'm a sophomore here at WCTA, and I'm an ambassador for the Engineering program.

Welcome to F Building.

What's your names?

-Luke.

-Welcome to WCTA, Luke.

I'm Jonathan.

I'm a sophomore in the Engineering program.

When they come here and they learn that what we're doing, from our point of view, is more important, because that's what they're going to be doing, and that's what they'll be experiencing.

You can follow me, and I'll show you around.

(Rowena Messner) We're here to view the magnet programs and see what different programs they have to offer at this campus.

This campus is amazing.

(Marcia Bascom) I brought my son so he can check out the school and see the programs and get excited about wanting to come here, because I want him to come here.

(Jeremiah Bascom) I think the Art, I think what they're doing here is amazing.

I like everything that they're doing.

I also like the Computer Design.

That's pretty cool.

(Amy Rozar) West Tech is amazing.

We have nine programs of study.

They're very distinct.

Some, we've got five under the Medical, and then we got four under the more professional-type umbrellas.

-I'm thinking about being an astro engineer.

I just come here because WCTA was more like, hands-on involved with the career path, like all their programs.

Part of that is choosing what's right for you.

You want to think end-game.

Think what you're going to do in the future, and that can help you decide what you're going to do now.

-Do you guys have any questions for me about the program?

I chose West Tech because I wanted a place where I could explore my creativity.

Through this program, you can graduate with several college credits, which make college easier.

-I think West Tech is the best tech because we just have amazing opportunities.

They're doing internships, they're working in groups, their presentation skills are second to none.

Our academic programs are very rigorous, but we also provide support.

-It's important for students and families to become familiar with our campus so they can feel comfortable making the right decision about high school.

And speaking with ambassadors can help them understand what a real student's perspective is like at school.

-CCSD students interested in attending a choice school like West Tech are invited to visit campuses.

Applications for magnet programs are open until January 14.

Now time to talk about this amazing hydroponic garden.

Check this out: tomatoes inside a classroom!

And here to tell us more is Miss Dorrell.

This is so cool!

I can only imagine how much the students love this garden.

(Amberley Dorrell) Oh, my gosh.

They come in looking for something new in this room.

They've watched these plants grow from small, little tiny sap seedlings into what we see here is this indeterminate tomato plant.

And then we also get to see luffa gourds growing and strawberries and oregano and thyme, and that's just in the classroom.

-And I can definitely smell the thyme.

And let's talk about, you have a garden.

Again, this one hydroponics.

And what is hydroponics?

-Hydroponics is growing plants without soil.

-Okay.

And then you have plants growing outside with soil.

Tell me what you have growing there.

-We have rosemary and thyme and basil again, and we have pomegranates.

-I'm taking this one home.

-And we have pears growing.

We also have fig trees and sunflowers and all sorts of fun stuff.

-It's beautiful.

And tell us why having these type of programs in your school is so very important.

-I want to make sure that they get the opportunity to see some exciting new things and not realizing that they're being-- they're learning academics in the classroom.

-Thank you for what you're doing, and thank you for this.

-Absolutely.

-We're sending it over to Nevada Learning Academy for our second "News Break."

-Hi, I'm Kristal, a student at Nevada Learning Academy at CCSD.

-And I'm Janelle.

And we're back with another "News Break."

This one is all about our school!

-Nevada Learning Academy is an online school.

Every student can attend.

That means elementary, middle, and high school.

-We take classes online.

Every student gets a Chromebook so they can log in.

-One thing I like about my school is that it provides flexibility to all students and that you wouldn't have to worry about missing a day of school, because everything that you need is in the modules.

-Our school mascot is Lumi, and Lumi is a lightbulb.

See?

-I'm one of the Lumi reporters.

As being a Lumi reporter, you can do the Pledge of Allegiance, do interviews with teachers and students, and you can also make commercials for upcoming events.

-Thanks for learning more about our school.

-Thank you so much, Kristal and Jenell.

Well, a new documentary is inspiring our CCSD music students.

The VOCES documentary, Mamba Legends: The Music Never Ends features former members of the Tito Puente Orchestra who are on a mission to keep this style of music alive for future generations.

Through a partnership with Latino Public Broadcasting, VOCES, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Vegas PBS was asked to help get the word out, so we turned to music students at Rex Bell Elementary School.

More on them in just a bit.

But first, we also recruited the help of the incredible Las Vegas Academy Jazz band and 92-year-old Vegas Musician Mr. Joe Torres.

Two of the students even got to interview Mr. Torres.

It's generations uniting to make sure that the music never ends.

Check it out.

[jazz music] -Hello, I'm Reyli Hernandez.

I play trumpet.

-Hello, I'm Miguel Fonseca Lagos, and I play saxophone.

And we are part of the Las Vegas Academy Jazz 3 ensemble.

We are here with Mr. Joe Torres, one of the founders of Latin jazz.

It's an honor to have you at our school, Mr. Torres.

(Joe Torres) Thank you.

It's my pleasure.

-So, Mr. Torres, you're known as, like the godfather of Latin jazz.

How did you gain that title, and when was the first time you became aware of the title?

-Well, that was a kind of a fluke.

I did a recording, and the DJ, his name is Raul Rico, he said, Boy, you're the godfather of Latin Jazz.

That's it, and it stuck.

That was it.

-Mr. Torres, you're 92 years young.

Please tell us about your musical journey, including your legendary album, Latino Con Soul.

-Well, I recorded that in 1967, and I think I was a little ahead of my time.

Latin jazz wasn't that well known.

["Yo Sali" playing] -You've played with, like many musical performers such as Nat King Cole, Elvis, and Dizzy Gillespie.

Would you be able to tell us more about Celia Cruz?

-Oh, yeah.

Well, Celia Cruz was a dynamic performer.

She was just incredible.

They called her "The Queen," and I played with her at the Hollywood Palladium.

Her energy was just contagious.

-What was your experience like performing and being in movies with Elvis Presley?

-Well, that was a great experience.

Not only was it a great experience, but I made a lot of money.

But we did, I did a couple of movies with him.

In Viva Las Vegas, I played bongos in the actual recording that he did.

I did the soundtrack.

-You opened up in recent interviews that you had to give up your musical career to support your family.

-Well, I really got away from music for about 20 years.

I went back to school.

I went to UNLV, and I started the Latin jazz group there.

[Latin jazz] -Who are three of your biggest influences?

-Well, Tito Puente, of course.

Man, he was-- see, at the time, the timbales player used to play in the back of the band.

When he came, he put the timbales in the front of the band, which was, you know, unheard of.

-What advice do you have for any young aspiring musicians out in the world today?

-Well, the one thing you have to do is you have to learn your instrument.

Listen to the masters.

Concentrate on what you do.

♪♪♪ -Can you tell us about the song "Soulcha"?

-"Soulcha," that was written by Steve Huffsteter.

And, as a matter of fact, I did about two of his tunes on my album.

-Thank you so much, Mr. Torres, for your wisdom and musical talent.

-Well, it was my pleasure, my pleasure.

-We are excited to perform your "Soulcha."

-Good!

That'd be great.

I'm excited to hear you play it.

♪♪♪ -Thank you, Mr. Torres!

[applause] -Well, I can tell you that watching Mr. Torres watching these talented students sight reading and performing his song was an incredible and heartwarming moment.

Bravo to all involved.

Well, now to the Brass Bell band.

The 2nd through 5th graders performed a special arrangement by their talented music teacher, Mr. Cook, of Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va." Their awesome performance caught the attention of a very important person.

-Oye cómo va mi ritmo.

-That is Mari Keiko Gonzalez, a talented filmmaker behind Mambo Legends: The Music Never Ends having her very own jam session with the Brass Bell band.

She saw our video and was so impressed, she wanted to meet these amazing students.

Miss Gonzales was in town working on another big project with a Vegas headliner.

But even with her busy schedule, she made time to visit with the students.

They watched a bit of the documentary together and had a Q & A session.

(Mari Keiko Gonzalez) Do you want to continue playing?

Does everybody want to continue playing music?

Yeah, that's fun.

You can do so many things with music.

So many different things in your life, not just-- you can be in an orchestra, you can be in a band, but they're all a lot of different jobs that you wouldn't think, you know, that you could do.

Like you can score things for movies, for like your TV shows.

-What a special moment!

The students even did an impromptu performance for Miss Gonzalez and got to facetime with one of the musicians featured in the film.

They say music is a universal language for a reason.

Now it's your turn to join our Vegas PBS Latin Jazz Jam Session.

You don't have to be a CCSD student to join; we're inviting all musicians to join our jam session.

Head to vegaspbs.org/mambo.

There you will also be able to watch Mambo Legends: The Music Never Ends.

Special thanks to our friends at Rex Bell Elementary school and After-School All-Stars for helping us make this surprise happen on such short notice.

We can't thank you enough.

Well, from Latin jazz to rock and roll, how can you increase student engagement, enhance school culture, and have tons of fun in the process?

Well, we were invited to one local elementary for a very special day called Rock Your School.

It is a beautiful fall day at Steve Schorr Elementary School.

And this morning, the entire school is rockin'.

(Shannon Williamson) There's a lot of stuff going on here today.

It's exciting and really just a vibrant atmosphere today at school.

-That's because this day is Rock Your School Day, part of a global initiative by Get Your Teach On, a professional development group for educators.

[cheers] (Sheila Helal) It's about bringing engagement back into the classroom, doing activities that aren't typical to our everyday teaching.

It's just a way to celebrate the students and staff and bring some joy back into the classroom.

-Inside, students enjoy a special assembly with performers like 5th grader Landon.

(Landon Soisoongoen) I'm gonna be playing piano.

♪♪♪ Another person is going to be performing a Hawaiian dance, and we're just gonna be having a lot, a lot of activities and things for people to watch and enjoy.

-And the activities continue into the classroom... (Greyson Blair) We're doing Pie in the Face.

-This is not something you do every day?

(Ashley Goffstein) Not something we do every day.

- ...where an assignment in Miss Goffstein's 1st grade class... (Braelyn Hale) It's a chef's outfit, because if we get dirty, our clothes will get dirty.

- ...takes a very exciting turn.

-They're able to kind of encourage each other to find the answers, work together so that they can be the first to actually play the Pie Face game, because they all want whipped cream in their face.

-It was fun.

-The idea is to mix up the normal school day... -The kids need to feel welcomed at school and sometimes need some motivation.

And when we change up the day and make it exciting, they want to come to school.

- ...and provide things for staff and students to look forward to.

-If we don't change our teaching styles and keep the kids interested, then school is not going to be a place they want to come.

We want to make sure they enjoy coming to school every day and wanting to be here.

-And that is the lesson... -So this just brings excitement back into the classroom for the students as well as for me.

It gets me more excited to teach.

This is way more fun than that every day day-to-day.

- ...that will last well beyond one day.

-Yes, this is our first time celebrating Rock Your School.

Everybody said it went really well, so we look forward to doing it for years to come.

-Definitely, we are going to do this again.

-What a fun day!

Absolutely love that.

And that does it for this episode of Student Spotlight.

A big thank you to Priest Elementary School for hosting us for this show.

We appreciate everything that you are doing for your wonderful students.

And thank you for watching, and we'll see you next month.